Metrics, successes & flaming disasters in digital marketing

Jarvis and That Butt on His Site

Two years ago, I was on a Web 2.0 panel hosted by Jeff Jarvis and I said something along the lines of, “While we all work to build great new ad-serving and ad-buying platforms to facilitate small, targeted transactions for long-tail marketers, let’s not ignore the needs of ‘big butt’ advertisers.”

And here we are, still talking about rear ends.

Apparently some BuzzMachine readers are giving Jeff a hard time over an ad on his site for high-end Washlet toilet seats. The ads feature the image of woman’s naked behind with a smiley face drawn across it. His post, About That Butt, offers the backstory.

“I’ve been meaning to mention the elephant in the room: that naked butt to the right, the happy ass. I’m proud of the ad, not because I’m a customer for $1,000 toilet seats (not made for the Navy) but because it represents my return to Blogads, where you should feel free to buy an ad and replace that ass. Hint, hint.”

(The post also explains why Jeff parted ways with FM — partly because BlogAds works better financially for BuzzMachine, and partly because Jeff doesn’t like some of the stuff we call Conversatonal Marketing. Our original motto at FM was “Author Driven.” That means we try very hard to put each author’s needs and wants above all else, and it means we sometimes part ways with people we like and respect very much, like Jeff.)

Back to that ad with the butt on it. If a company runs an honest business and pays a fair price to advertise on a publication like BuzzMachine, what’s the problem? I’ve been selling advertising for 15 years, and I haven’t loved the creative concepts submitted for every campaign. But I appreciate the financial support provided by every single one, and I do my best to keep my aesthetic judgments to myself. I’m also thankful for all the high-quality content I read and watch every day — for free.

Thanks, Chas.
I forgot the PS to this story. When I arrived at FM, there was some big unit that you sold (thank you) and before it arrived, I warned my readers, similarly, that I would have a “big ass ad.” To this day, “big ass” is one of my top search terms coming to Buzzmachine. When those users arrive, I do hope they are disappointed. Except these days….